In 2007 CCIVS is initiating a global campaign to promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through international voluntary service. This campaign will be linked to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005 - 2014) which aims to integrate sustainable development into education and learning throughout the world.

The aim of this campaign

The aim of this campaign is to enable organizations to share their experiences of working on ESD and build on the existing experience within the international voluntary service movement. We aim to support organizations to develop concrete actions that stimulate reflection and deepen understanding of sustainable development issues with volunteers and the communities they work with.

Download the kit here and jump into action!

Click here to know more about the project "the beauty and the beast" and how to participate.

CCIVS ESD campaign initiated! A sheep, a cow and the fight for justice:
Young and old volunteers discuss ESD in the SJ delegation at Vaunières,
a "lost" village in the French Alps. Click here to find out more!

Check the picture gallery here.

How can international voluntary service contribute to ESD?

The values of ESD (as defined by UNESCO) lie at the core of the international voluntary service movement and we believe that the activities of CCIVS members already make a huge contribution to ESD through non-formal / community based education.

Each year, 1000s of volunteers work and live together with local communities on international workcamps that provide an opportunity for learning and reflection on sustainable development issues. Workcamps enable people to explore the concept of sustainable development from different cultural perspectives and exchange ideas for practical actions leading to more sustainable lifestyles. Many CCIVS organisations have developed activities that support these learning processes and run special projects focusing on environmental education / sustainable development issues. This campaign will support organisations to further develop this area of their work.

The role of CCIVS

CCIVS, as a global network of international voluntary service organisations, will play a positive role in supporting organizations to promote ESD with volunteers and local communities. We will also act as a bridge and information gateway between local volunteer projects / initiatives and UNESCO who are co-ordinating the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

Planned actions

CCIVS will work to facilitate the exchange of information / resources on ESD between organizations
through seminars and international training events. We plan to run a seminar on ESD within voluntary service in France in early January 2008. This seminar will enable project leaders / trainers to share experiences and ideas on how to develop their work on this topic. More details will be put up on this website soon!

One of the main outcomes of this seminar will be to develop an ESD toolkit, which will provide a set of easily adaptable activities that can be used to facilitate reflection and discussion on sustainable development issues. The ESD toolkit is planned to be completed by the end of 2008 and will be available on this website for organizations to use. This toolkit will build on existing CCIVS resources such as the Freshwater Guide and the Globalization Kit.

We are currently collecting information by questionnaire about the activities / interests of international voluntary service organisations relating to ESD. The questionnaire will help us to develop the ESD campaign so it suits your needs / interests as closely as possible. Click here to download a questionnaire and send it by email to CCIVS. Let us know if you cannot open the file in electronic form and we will send a copy.

Useful links on ESD:

Official site for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

Some more useful sites on ESD

Vision and definition of ESD

Sustainable lifestyle training kit: A training kit on responsible consumption developed by UNESCO / UNEP

The Earth Charter: The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. This site has useful resources for exploring sustainability issues with groups.